Department of Linguistics and Modern Languageshttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/2876
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:07:56 GMT2015-03-03T23:07:56ZSiberia revealed through the travel narrative; a Russian, American and British perspectivehttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18322
Siberia revealed through the travel narrative; a Russian, American and British perspective
Van Zyl, Estelle
This study examines how travelogues by the Russian author Anton Chekhov, an American, George Kennan and a British citizen, Harry de Windt, contributed towards establishing the image of Siberia towards the end of the 19th century, juxtaposing their individual views against the commonly perceived view of the region at the time.
In examining the texts, a literary analysis is merged with elements of other approaches, through a strong thematic focus, centring on the cultural and ideological assumptions implied in the texts.
The findings reveal that both native inhabitants and foreigners are capable of expressing a justifiable opinion on a locality, resulting in different versions of what is observed, from divergent points of view. Although the three writers in this study appear to support a negative view of Siberia, closer investigation show evidence of optimism about the eventual destiny of a region in a stage of transition.
Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/183222015-03-05T00:00:00ZLexical levels and formulaic language : an exploration of undergraduate students' vocabulary and written production of delexical multiword unitshttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/18245
Lexical levels and formulaic language : an exploration of undergraduate students' vocabulary and written production of delexical multiword units
Scheepers, Ruth Angela
This study investigates undergraduate students’ vocabulary size, and their use of formulaic language. Using the Vocabulary Levels Test (Laufer and Nation 1995), it measures the vocabulary size of native and non-native speakers of English and explores relationships between this and course of study, gender, age and home language, and their academic performance. A corpus linguistic approach is then applied to compare student writers’ uses of three high-frequency verbs (have, make and take) relative to expert writers. Multiword units (MWUs) featuring these verbs are identified and analysed, focusing on delexical MWUs as one very specific aspect of depth of vocabulary knowledge. Student and expert use of these MWUs is compared. Grammatically and semantically deviant MWUs are also analysed. Finally, relationships between the size and depth of students’ vocabulary knowledge, and between the latter and academic performance, are explored.
Findings reveal that Literature students had larger vocabularies than Law students, females knew more words than males, and older students knew more than younger ones. Importantly, results indicated a relationship between vocabulary size and academic performance. Literature students produced more correct MWUs and fewer errors than Law students. Correlations suggest that the smaller students’ vocabulary, the poorer the depth of their vocabulary is likely to be. Although no robust relationship between vocabulary depth and academic performance emerged, there was evidence of an indirect link between academic performance and correct use of MWUs.
In bringing together traditional methods of measuring vocabulary size with an investigation of depth of vocabulary knowledge using corpus analysis methods, this study provides further evidence of the importance of vocabulary knowledge to academic performance. It contributes to debates on the value of a sound knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary and a developing knowledge of at least 5000 words to academic performance, and the analysis and quantification of errors in MWUs adds to our understanding of novice writers’ difficulties with these combinations. The study also explores new ways of investigating relationships between size and depth of vocabulary knowledge, and between depth of vocabulary knowledge and academic performance.
Sat, 01 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/182452014-11-01T00:00:00ZCloze tests and word reading tests: enabling teachers to measure learners' reading-related abilitieshttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/14190
Cloze tests and word reading tests: enabling teachers to measure learners' reading-related abilities
Klapwijk, Nanda
‘How can I measure my learners’ reading ability in order to manage my instruction more effectively?’ This seems to be the refrain of many teachers these days. However, while teachers are taught new methods of instruction and new reading methods, they do not seem to be taught about reliable ways to measure their learners’ reading-related ability independently. In this article, a recommendation is made for the use of two measurements by teachers: a word reading test (which measures word recognition) and Cloze tests (which measure a reader’s ability to comprehend at more than word level). While acknowledging the difficulties related to measuring reading ability, in particular comprehension, the author of this article provides evidence that, when combined, a word reading test and a Cloze test can provide teachers with a reliable indicator of their learners’ reading-related abilities. The article concludes with a list of benefits that can be gained from obtaining such measurements.
Tue, 01 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/141902013-01-01T00:00:00ZReading strategy instruction and teacher change: implications for teacher traininghttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/14187
Reading strategy instruction and teacher change: implications for teacher training
Klapwijk, Nanda
I report on teacher change in the context of a reading strategy instruction intervention.
Reading Strategy Instruction (RSI) was implemented by three teachers, new
to the concept, over a period of 15 weeks. Observations of these teachers showed
that a multitude of factors affect the uptake of RSI as part of everyday teaching
practice, and that teachers seem to move through distinct phases in their uptake of
RSI. The article focuses on teachers’ reaction to RSI and highlights a number of
issues that are important to the implementation of RSI, not the least of which is that
a clear need exists for changes to in-service teacher training and support and
pre-service teacher training. In an effort to address these training issues the article
contains specific recommendations for pre-service teacher training in particular.
Sun, 01 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/141872012-01-01T00:00:00Z